


Playing House

by SnowyFlare



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: And Opening Up About Their Feelings, Domestic Fluff, Frank is so damn patient, Human Disaster Matt Murdock, Hurt Frank Castle, M/M, Matt Murdock Needs Hobbies, Matt and Frank Live Together in The Same Apartment, Matt and Frank actually getting to know each other, Oblivious Matt, One-Shot Collection, Soft Frank Castle, Takes Place Between Season 02/03, Usually it's the other way around, and Matt is a walking disaster, btw frank has a new dog named Hugo - he wasn't able to keep Max, but i wanted to try something different, frank is a sweetheart, snarky Frank, you can literally hear Frank's heart breaking - and Matt just can't deal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23873044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SnowyFlare/pseuds/SnowyFlare
Summary: He can't have white-picket fences and perfect suburbia and happy families anymore - he had already tried this. He had this once - with his family, who were now dead. Frank though, didn't want to move in with The Devil of Hell's Kitchen - but broke, hurt and nowhere to go - Matt Murdock offered him sanctuary - sanctuary he couldn't afford by himself.Frank hated it, and he hated the idea of playing house with Daredevil. But - it was the only thing he could do to keep himself alive right now. (That and he had a dog, which he didn't want to end up dead either.) So his current situation was as such - Matt Murdock - Frank Castle and a dog - all living in the same apartment. It was so, very domestic. Frank had never let himself be in such a vulnerable position before, he wondered how long it would last, until they both broke in two.Only time would tell.
Relationships: Frank Castle/Matt Murdock
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

When Frank moved into Matt’s apartment – reluctantly – because he didn’t have anywhere else to go – with his new dog, Hugo, he thought – the kid had money, but he didn’t have much in terms of things he could really use to enjoy himself. He had a two-bedroom, which surprised Frank. Matt admitted the two-bedroom was cheaper. Which was fair. The apartment had nice wood floors and very expensive furniture – Hugo didn’t go on the furniture nor did he mark it – he was neutered, Matt made sure to get Hugo neutered cause’ he didn’t want a dog pissing all over his fancy couch – which honestly, Frank didn’t want either.

With Matt’s senses, he could probably smell it. Though – Hugo was well trained. Matt didn’t seem to mind Hugo’s company. Every now and then – on an early morning out of nowhere – Frank would see Matt burying his face in Hugo’s fur and then letting the German Shepard lick the lawyer’s face. Frank’s heart fluttered in his chest. It was a pretty sight, to see Red so relaxed for once – they didn’t sleep in the same bed – they didn’t need to. Sometimes though, Red would go out at night, he would come back, Frank would wake up and patch him up.

Hugo slept in Frank’s room mainly so he didn’t get startled by Matt waking up by the sound of him coming in through the vents. This was now their routine. Frank had a laptop – he managed to work and get money from home. He did articles online – he figured, he wasn’t dumb, and thanks to Karen and Jessica Jones’s help – he’d be able to figure out how to write a decent article. There were tones of topics to write about in New York. He knew pretty much every damn superhero and vigilante in the city – as well as two billionaires.

Red was Ironman and Ironfists lawyer for fuck’s sake, Frank didn’t think he would have something not to write about. One night – Frank was sleeping on the couch. He heard Matt get ready to leave – he was geared up in the suit, and Frank rubbed his eyes. Matt stopped; Frank looked at the digital clock on the table beside the sofa. It read 9:30. Matt probably hadn’t expected Frank to wait for him – but honestly, he was just tired and wanted to sleep on the couch. Hugo whined at Frank’s feet – Hugo didn’t see Matt as a threat in the Daredevil suit, he grew used to the smell of Kevlar and blood, that didn’t mean it didn’t worry the dog when Matt got hurt any less.

Frank sighed. “How long do you think you’ll be?”

Matt stopped – he was silent for a moment. “Not long, I have help this time, and the Defenders are on the other side of the city, Hawkeye and Black Widow are going to be patrolling tonight – I’ll be okay,” Frank snorts, he scratches Hugo behind the ear and sits up and sighs. How long were they going to sing this song? “Frank...”

“Just go, I’ll wait here until my husband returns from war, I’ll be fine.” And Red just stops – dead in his tracks – Frank isn’t even looking at him. He knows what he said. This is practically playing house right now, isn’t it? Except when Frank used to do this shit to people – it’s the opposite. “Go, Red, I don’t need you to protect me, you know that,”   
  
Red silently leaves – not saying a single word. Frank knows why he said ‘husband’, because that’s practically what they are right now. They aren’t married – Matt would make a terrible husband; Frank knew he wasn’t the best husband to Maria. But seriously – marriage? God, what the hell did he just say. Frank felt tears prickle in his eyes as he thought of him and Red vaulting over rooftops and chasing each other- he wants that life back – to make sure the kid is okay, to be back in the action, but this was his life now.

“We’ll be okay, we’ll be okay,” Frank nuzzles into Hugo’s neck and breathes.

He was playing house. And he couldn’t take it much longer, he was going to burst.


	2. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's home from another day at the office - Matt stops at the door of his (their) apartment - he hears the soft melodies of the guitar and Frank singing. 
> 
> Wait. Frank can sing? Frank can play guitar? 
> 
> (Or in which Frank and Matt discover a little bit more about each other - where they thought they knew everything about each other - but really they didn't know anything about each other at all, and Frank? He's just damn exhausted and Matt's oblivious as always.)

Matt returns from the office one day – he’s tired. He’s not really in a good mood. He’s not hurt – thankfully. Though Frank doesn’t really argue with him much when he is, Foggy normally does – Matt knows he’s been pretty good about getting not-injured lately. Frank patches him up – and whenever he does – Matt notices a pang in the soldier’s heart whenever he has to. Matt can’t quite read all of Frank’s emotions most of the time, but – he thinks Frank’s hurting.

When Matt walks up to the stairs of his apartment – his and Frank’s apartment – he hears the soft sounds of a guitar playing, and singing. Frank singing. Matt stops at the door – he didn’t think Frank could sing, let alone play guitar. But he listens in – he doesn’t recognize the song, or the artist. It sounds country, and Frank sounds really good – he doesn’t know -when Frank had the time to learn how-to pick-up guitar – or when he had even gotten a guitar (was Matt really that oblivious?) but Frank – he sounded good.

The song sounded something like it meant a lot to Frank. The lyrics and long with the tone of Frank’s voice – made Matt wonder what Frank was thinking right now. He listened, he shouldn’t really be eavesdropping right now, but he listened anyway – he just – never heard Frank sing?

Frank sang as followed Matt didn’t know how long the song was or where he was in the song but he heard these lyrics:

 _“Beneath the stains of time,  
The feelings disappear,   
You are someone else,   
I am still right here,   
  
What have I become,   
My sweetest friend?   
Everyone I know,   
Goes away in the end,   
  
And you could have it all   
My empire of dirt  
I will let you down,   
I will make you hurt”   
  
_He sounded beautiful. Like he was really pouring his soul into it – and fuck it was a depressing song. Matt walked in – the door opened – the guitar stopped – he hearts Frank’s heart beat flutter rapidly. He seemed embarrassed. He immediately froze – Matt stood in the doorway. “I – didn’t know you could play?”

Frank sucked in a breath, like Matt had walked in on a dirty little secret of his, something sacred. And Matt – had never heard something so beautiful come from Frank – something so pure – and the song – fuck, “What song was that?”

Frank was silent for a moment – like he was studying Matt’s movements. He slowly lowered the guitar – Frank seemed really venerable right now. Frank Castle never got venerable, but Matt – had walked into him on a private moment. “Johnny Cash, Hurt,”

Of course, _that_ was the title of the song. And Matt knew who Johnny Cash was – but he had never heard a song of his. “You – you sing really good. When did you learn how to play?”

“I was twelve, when I learnt how to play.” He was twelve? And – Matt never knew much about Franks’ childhood. “I used to play it more in high school and before I entered the military,” Frank relaxed a little bit more, he stretched a bit – feeling less wound up and less tense. “I liked singing, it calmed me down, gave me a distraction from my anger, I wasn’t a really happy kid, I had anger problems, got into fights a lot – but music, it was something that distracted me. My wife, Maria, she met me when I was playing guitar in the park, she came up to me- we flirted, went on a few dates, next thing you know, I’m in bed with her, drunk, it’s a one-night stand,”

Frank sighs and sets the guitar against the sofa; he runs a hand through his hair – it’s longer now. “Maria gave me the option to back out – said I didn’t and shouldn’t end up with a kid that I didn’t want or didn’t need, I was eighteen, but – I didn’t want to leave er’. Not too much later, we got married and had Lisa.” And his heart hurt when he said his daughter’s name – “Soon after, we had Frankie, and I entered the military, so, that’s how my story goes,”

Matt was silent. He sucked in a breath. “I can play violin, and piano,”

Frank’s heart skips a beat. “No shit? How? Oh -you – play by ear?” Mozart was deaf, so – he wasn’t surprised that Matt was blind and that he could play an instrument, a guitar would be much harder to play. But damn, that was probably really hard. “How hard was it for you to learn how to play?”

Matt shrugged, feeling a little lighter now – things like this – he didn’t really talk about much. He never really told anyone about his hobbies, _because he didn’t have any._ “Not that hard, I had my music teacher teach me about music theory and despite I couldn’t read sheet music – after I had learnt that – I could understand if a song was in various Minor Scales, I knew the key positions – I knew how to play. Playing by ear, isn’t really that difficult and if I listened hard enough, if I really paid attention to a song – even if it’s not classical, I could still understand which scale it’s being played on,” Matt shrugged and stepped further into the house.

“I – why the hell didn’t you become a musician? You obviously have a talent for it,” Frank leaned up, Matt took off his glasses. “Can you sing – have you ever sang before? Do I _want_ to hear your singing voice?” Frank – was curious now – can Red play more than just classical? Because really, what other songs can he play? “You need hobbies, man,”

Matt snorted. “I can sing, I don’t do it very often – don’t have a reason to, I haven’t played an instrument since I had entered college. I didn’t have the ability to take a grand piano with me to Colombia, and – even though I probably could pick up a violin again – I probably would need some practice, but yeah, I could probably do it, I just, don’t really have time,” Matt sighed and sat down in his chair adjacent to the sofa he had his cane folded up and his glasses stuffed in a pocket in his suit. “I probably couldn’t play guitar, though, I don’t know how well I’d be able to manage to get a hold of the finger positions and understand the placement of where my hands could go. It was hard enough I had to learn that while playing Violin, but guitar just doesn’t seem like something I could play, I could probably try, it’s a string instrument, but still,” Matt shrugged.

Frank blinks. “Why don’t you try it? You’ve never held a guitar before, have you, haven’t you ever wanted to try and learn?”

Matt rubbed the back of his neck. “No time to try,”

And Frank thinks – that’s a shame. “Do you want me to teach you?”

Matt’s eyes – beautiful brown – narrows and he makes a face. Frank picks up his guitar – he bought recently – it wasn’t expensive. He holds it to Matt. “Here, hold this, it doesn’t matter how, just try holding it see how you like it, it’s an adult-sized acoustic, it’s tuned, it should fit you properly, here,”

Matt didn’t seem to sure; he laid the instrument across his lap. He felt the fine wood finish against the instrument and felt he strings – he strummed his fingers against the fingerboard and it didn’t sound anything like he could make on the violin – but – he felt calm – having an instrument in his hands again. “I don’t know, if I can,”

“Make time, you your own boss, you have help – Spiderman and Deadpool to help you, Team Red, and the Defenders, you can take time off, you deserve to have hobbies Matt, you have to have something to enjoy and relax yourself, just – take a break, I can teach you,” Frank moved Matt’s fingers in the correct position – Matt allowed Frank – he trusted Frank enough to touch him – though it was a little awkward that they were this close – Matt wasn’t this used to touch like this. “Hold down your fingers, you have to apply pressure, then let me,” Frank strummed the instrument – a chord - Frank had played a chord.

“That was… A C Major Chord… Right?” Matt blinked in confusion. Matt adjusted his fingers again, repeated the chord. “Yeah, C Major, it sounds like it does on the violin – it’s string instrument, I recognize it, Chords are the same on practically any instrument, it’s a universal language,” The lawyer shrugs.

Frank was surprised. “I mostly play by ear. You obviously know more than I do. And you said you don’t think you have what it takes to play? You could probably learn this way faster than I did, I don’t really read sheet music either, don’t know shit about music theory, but you- you have a talent, Matt,”

Matt laughed, light and airy -Frank assumes he doesn’t laugh like that very often. “Not really,”

Frank sighs. “How many blind people do you know has such a good ear like you do? I know I can play be ear, and I’m sure there are blind musicians, but you – you definitely have an _ear_ for music, that’s not just something anyone can do,” And Frank – his heartbeat sounds strong and steady like a war drum, his voice is serious and commanding. “Red, if music is something that will help make you happy, then find more time to play it. I could play guitar with you, I can’t play piano or violin, but you know – I would like to hear you sing,”

Matt looks up in Frank’s direction, he blinks confused. “You – what? You want to what -?” Matt’s heart is a flutter he doesn’t – quite understand what Frank just said. His cheeks are hot, and the guitar almost goes slack in his hands, he catches it. “Fuck,”

Frank rolls his eyes. “You know what I said, Murdock. I want to hear you sing,”

Matt – he – last time he sang he was drunk and in college. Foggy still makes fun of him for it. “Ah… I don’t know… Like I said I don’t sing very often,”

Frank made a face. “You don’t give yourself a chance to,”

And – Frank always had a counterargument for Matt. Matt sighed. “I still don’t know how much time I’ll have, or if I’m comfortable with taking time off. But – it’s definitely something I want to try… Music… It relaxes me. Listening to music on my phone calms me down. So, maybe picking up an instrument again will help,”

Frank’s heart is calm and – fuck. Frank is right – Matt hates to admit it, he _does_ need more hobbies. Matt sighs. Despite him living in Hell’s Kitchen for his whole life – he hasn’t really gotten out to explore the city very often. He’s been to bars, and cheap diners, but he hasn’t really gotten the time to – really enjoy what the city really has to offer. He doesn’t go to the movies – he doesn’t go to Broadway – when’s the last time he’s been to a park?

God, he just doesn’t get out. He doesn’t need to though – he doesn’t – he –

“Could I make time?” Matt strums the instrument again his heart flutters – C Chord plays throughout the apartment. “Could I play house, have a white-picket fence and have a happy family and come home and make you dinner? I’m blind, Frank,” Matt’s slowly stroking the strings of the guitar. “Elektra didn’t think we could,” He swallows harsh and thick, and then sets down the wooden instrument; it echo’s when he does. “But I want to, I want it so bad,” Matt feels tears in his eyes – “Especially now, this is the most domestic I’ve ever gotten in my entire life. Elektra, I thought she was the one,”

Frank stares, he pets Hugo for a moment… And just pauses. “How old were you when you met her? Elektra.” He’s only heard bits of Elektra throughout their time knowing each other – but Matt doesn’t go into details about his ex. How much he really cared for her. Seems like it’s all coming together now.

“Eighteen. I was just entering college. I was twenty-four when we broke it off.”

Frank sighs. “That was what, a relationship you only had with one woman you met in college? In college, Red, no offense, but – you really are naïve,” Matt looks up with a really angry look on his face – he opens his mouth in protest but Frank holds up a hand and stops the lawyer. Frank is always good at coming up with counterarguments. “Look at me for example, I just got out of high school, met Maria, I was eighteen – I got her knocked up, never went to college, never really wanted to – she gave me the option to back out – like I said, I was dumb reckless and in love, it was stupid – I could’ve used protection, I didn’t, it was a mistake, but do I regret it? No.” The former convict sighs and cusses, he runs a hand through his hair and lets out a hasty breath.

“Do I wish I could turn back time and fix it? Maybe. Maybe I would wish I could live my life again and not be The Punisher – if I could turn back time and stop myself from saying yes to her that day in the park – having sex with her – maybe. But even if I repeated my life and still got her pregnant, I would’ve still said yes, because that’s who I am. Hell, if you were a woman and I knocked you up, even if I had met you as Daredevil – I still would’ve tried to marry you,”

And there was silence. Matt was quiet.

“Despite having no insurance, living the kind of life I lived, I would try, to do my best – to make it work. Why? Because when you have a child in your life, when you have a baby – it’s something that changes you. That’s something worth fighting for, I would’ve wanted to provide for you, and I know you would’ve said no, because I don’t think that would’ve been the kind of woman you’d be, you definitely would’ve rejected me,” And Frank is grinning now, he’s relaxed, he’s flirting with Matt. “But I still would’ve wanted to be in your life, regardless, despite it. Because that’s who I am. But if I found myself too much if a danger to you or our child, then yeah, I guess I wouldn’t be a good fit,” Frank sighed.

“But we don’t have a baby, your not a woman, and that’s not what our life is like, I’m damn happy I can’t knock you up, right now I’m financially stable, I have a new name – a new identity – and I’m not particularly bothered by this arrangement we have going on, I just want to provide for myself. You don’t have to do anymore than you have,” And – Matt understands now – why Frank didn’t want someone to defend him –

Frank was a provider. He was a husband, a solider, a father. Matt cussed. “Goddammit Frank, why didn’t you tell me all this when I was trying to defend you back then?”

“Why?” Frank strains. He gets up, Hugo shifts from underneath – Matt jerks – he’s ready for a fight if Frank wants one. But Frank doesn’t seem angry – Frank just inches closer, moves towards the floor and kneels down to Matt’s feet. He places his hand on Matts’ stomach, and Matt is eyeing him – looking down on Frank – trying to read him. “Because I don’t want you to kill yourself just to save someone, Murdock,” The hand traces up to Matt’s shoulder, and Frank squeezes it tight. “You go out, get yourself shot and stabbed every day, I may be hypocritical sometimes when it comes to this – but now our arrangement is – I patch you up – I’m practically Temple now, and I’m pretty pissed about this, you’re throwing me under the bus, you haven’t even asked me how I felt about any of this,” Frank makes a growl from his throat as he feels Matt’s stubble. Matt is silent.

“Don’t get me wrong, choir boy, I have no intention on getting in relationship with you, I don’t want to marry you I don’t want that life from you, I just don’t want you _dead_ ,” Frank is holding Matt’s hand in his other. His heart beat is strong – like a war drum. Matt squeeze’s Frank’s hand. “I know I can’t live in white-picket-fenced suburbia and build a happy family, that’s not who I am, I just don’t want you dead – after all the effort I put into patching you up every night. I’m making an effort, but you don’t even fuckin’ _try_ ,”

And Frank is grasping for something to hold on to – and Matt – he feels like an asshole. That’s why -he breaks people’s hearts – Frank’s heart sounds like it’s breaking. Matt closes his eyes. Even if Frank doesn’t want to build a relationship with him, and Matt’s fine with it – Frank’s right, Matt hasn’t taken Frank’s opinion into consideration. Matt doesn’t take people’s opinions into consideration much at all – he just does what he wants.

Matt squeezes Frank’s hand. “I’m sorry, I should have asked.”

Frank is breathless. That wasn’t the thing that Frank expected Matt to say. Frank groans. He’s too tired for this shit. He’s exhausted. “I cook, you come home, get yourself shot or stabbed, I patch you up – how does that seem fair? I’m tired of this shit,”

Frank is too tired. And, Matt is tired too. Matt looks at the ceiling. It’s just after he comes home from the office. “I haven’t been taking your opinion into consideration, I don’t do that with others either, I’m sorry. I thought I was doing better because I had people to help me from getting hurt as much – but I make a really shitty boyfriend, don’t I?” Matt sighs.

Frank’s heart flutters and he wants to speak – ‘ _we’re not dating’_ , Matt shifts in his chair. “I want you to stay with me, in my bed, cause’ right now, I need a goddamn nap, and don’t lie to me, Frank, I know you need one too,”

Frank’s heart is still. Frank’s hand goes slack – he swallows. “That’s not what we are,”

“Don’t care, just want a warm body to wake up to, to cancel out all the noise, plus I like your heartbeat,” Matt runs a hand through Frank’s hair. Fuck, he said too much. “Your heartbeat helps make things better, and Hugo helps- honestly everything so far – this arrangement we have – it’s been helping me, but I want just to go to sleep in my bed with you lying next to me – to listen to your heart beat and forget everything else exists for once, please?” And Matt Murdock never says please.

Frank sighs. “Okay, but nothing more than just platonic shit – got it?”

Matt nods. He gets up from his chair, and Frank holds his hand – they can do this. They can do platonic. That’s pretty much what they are already? Matt – would make a terrible boyfriend, and a terrible husband. But that doesn’t mean they can’t try to be domestic and try to be civil towards each other.

Matt strips of his suit and chucks it in a corner somewhere. He leaves the pants and Frank does the same with his clothes – he’s in his boxer’s now – seeing the kid this exposed doesn’t bother him. The scars don’t bother him either. Maybe it would bother Nelson but Frank has scars too, Matt can’t see them but- Frank just slips into the bed, Matt turns away from him, gets into a comfortable position, Frank turns off the light.

Frank runs a hand through Matt’s hair. He sighs. “Comfy?”

Matt hums. “Your heartbeat helps, focusing on a singular source helps block out he noise,” It keeps him sane – Frank realizes. Matt pushes himself closer to Frank’s chest.

Frank lets him, he pulls the covers up to cover their exposed bodies. Matt sighs. Frank places his hands over Matt’s belly and lets Matt rest his back against Frank’s chest. Frank is lightly breathing against the lawyer’s neck, he’s close – really close – but that’s fine – they’ve been close before. They’re used to it.

“Too close?” Frank whispers in Matts ear.

“Nah, I’m okay with it, just wanna sleep,” Matt yawns. He’s really is tired; Frank has never seen him this relaxed.

“I’ll be here when you wake up, Red,”

Matt relaxes. “So, will I,”

And Frank’s heart does a little jump – it’s light and airy – it hurts a little – but he realizes – he’s okay with this. This, he can work with. ‘ _I’ll be fine while I wait for my husband to return home from war_ ,’ Frank thinks – it was a stupid thing to say then – but he realizes how much impact it had on Matt – and now – he’s fine – how much he wanted to be this close.

They may not have white-picket fences and live in perfect suburbia, but they can have this, for now. Frank doesn’t know how long the calm will last before the storm hits, but he knows that as long as they’re okay with something like this – whatever storm coming can’t be that bad. They’ll handle it, together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Frank sings/plays in this chapter was 'Hurt' by Johnny Cash. If your a Marvel Fan - you might recognize from 'Logan' - it was played in the trailer. Cheers! Also hugs for Frank, he's so patient. (To be honest, Matt would make either the best boyfriend or the worst boyfriend in the world. Though most of the reasons why isn't really his fault - he just needs to talk about his feelings instead of bottling them up inside. Which is why I think him and Frank are so compatible. They just have to stop being such idiots and work out their feelings, at least they're okay with being 'platonic'.) 
> 
> (WHY DON'T VIGILANTES HAVE HOBBIES? THEY SHOULD. FRANK IS LIKE, THE ONLY NORMAL ONE OUT OF ALL OF THEM. GET SUPERHERO'S SOME DAMN HOBBIES.)


End file.
